This is the day I have been dreading all week. The day I am thrown into the arena to kill or be killed. I am currently on a train trying to eat and drink as much as I can hold because who knows the next time I might be able too? I am on my way too a place in the Capitol called the Launch Room but in the districts, it's referred to as the Stockyard. The place animals go before slaughter. Nervousness seeps into terror as I anticipate what is to come. I could be dead, flat-out dead, in an hour. "Do you want to talk?" Cinna asks me but I just shake my head... after a moment I hold out my hand to him. Cinna encloses it in both of his.
When we arrive, Cinna and me are ushered into a empty room with a clear tube in the corner. As Cinna is helping me dress in the outfit laid out for me, I cannot control my shaking. Cinna notices and pulls me into a tight hug, I wrap my arms around him and bury my face in the crook of his neck. "Remember this. I'm not allowed to bet, but if I could my money would be on you." Cinna tells me, trying to calm me. 20 seconds. "Good luck, my Girl on fire." Cinna kisses my forehead and lets me go. I hesitantly stepped into the tube and watched myself ascend. I hear the legendary announcer Claudius Templesmith say "Ladies and gentlemen, let the Seventy-fourth Hunger Games begin!"
60 seconds. That's all I have to assess my surroundings. I see the Cornucopia in front of me and everywhere I look trees except for behind the cornucopia which is just a cliff. My vision sets on a magnificent bow and arrows but I know by the time I reach it, others will have reached the Cornucopia too, so it really would be like walking straight into a ambush. I carry on looking and spot an orange backpack, a loaf of bread and a piece of plastic. They are only 10 metres from where I am standing, I could easily grab them and sprint to the safety of the woods. 10 seconds. There's no time to think about another plan, I have to get something because the thought of leaving with nothing is unbearable. GONG! I sprint for the items I want but the boy from District 8 gets there at the same time as me and we grabble for it. Until his blood splatters my face and he drops to the ground. Dead. About 20-25 meters away stands Clove. I've seen her shoot, she never misses and I'm her next target. Fear shoots through my veins and I quickly sprint for the woods, luckily I hear the knife coming my way and I manage to block it with my backpack. Thanks for the knife. The blade lodged into the bag when I blocked her attack, I'm definitely not complaining because it's a weapon which can be extremely useful. Over the next couple of hours, I alternate between jogging and walking until I hear the cannons start to blast. The fighting must have finally stopped at the Cornucopia. I hear eleven blasts. Eleven dead in all, Thirteen left to play.
I decide to check what is in my orange backpack before it gets too dark. Inside the bag I find a thin black sleeping bag that reflects body heat, a pack of crackers, a pack of dried beef strips, a bottle of iodine, a box of wooden matches, a small coil of wire, a pair of night-vision glasses, and a half-gallon plastic bottle with a cap for carrying water that's bone dry. No water. I continue until nightfall, I manage to climb a tree and tie the rope around me so if I turn in my sleep I wont plummet straight to the ground. The last thing I think is it's lucky I don't snore
SNAP! SNAP! What's going on? That doesn't sound like a branch breaking under someone's foot but branches being snapped off of a tree. SNAP! SNAP! I slowly turn on my side so I can see what is going on. There is a bit of shuffling, then a fire blooms and a pair of hands start to warm themselves over the fire. I want to scream at the fire starter, because making a fire at nightfall is obviously the worst thing to do as the smoke and light with give away your location. And here I am a stone's throw from the biggest idiot in the games. Strapped in a tree. Not daring to flee since my general location has just been broadcast to any killer that cares. In the morning, It will be easy to take out my new neighbour. My instincts so far have been to flee, not fight. But obviously this person's a hazard. Stupid people are dangerous.
And then I hear it, loud footsteps not even trying to conceal their whereabouts. It seems that the fire starter has dozed off because she doesn't even react until they are upon her. I know now that it was a girl by the terrified scream that crossed her lips. As soon as the careers have left and the body is taken by the hovercraft, I get out of my tree and run in the opposite direction of the Careers. I walk throughout the entire day and I'm dehydrating fast. I plan to go until nightfall but I am getting desperate, the only thing that keeps me going is knowing that Prim's anxious face is watching me, making sure I'm okay. I try not to look too desperate for her sake. But by late afternoon, I am exhausted and stumbling over my own feet, I repeatedly fall and get back up but when I fall down this time, I am unable to move. This is an OK place to die. I love mud. Mud. Mud. Mud! It's Mud and those are pond lilies! I crawl now through the mud and it's all I can do not to plunge my face into the water, I add water to my bottle and then what I remember to be the right amount of drops of Iodine to purify it.
Over the next couple of hours, I rehydrate my body and even indulge in a couple of crackers. When I climb a tree for the night, I feel remarkably better. I hold onto my water bottle for dear life as I sleep. But roughly 6-7 hours later I am woken by the stampede of feet, I look up to find the source and it would be hard to miss the wall of fire descending on me. I scramble from the tree and flee. This is no tribute's campfire gone out of control but the work of a Gamemaker. Somewhere, in a cool, spotless room, a Gamemaker sits at a set of controls, fingers on the triggers that could end my life in a second. There is no time to judge if a move is the correct one. When there's a hiss, I act or die.
As I dodge and leap away from the fire and fireballs that rain down on me, I can't help but think that this attack was brought on by my fiery debut. But all in all, maybe showing up stark naked in that chariot would have been safer for me. I know Cinna could not have foreseen this, he may even be hurting for me but I don't blame him. When I arrive at a place full of oversized rocks, I think the attack has finally ended. The Gamemakers don't want me dead. Not yet anyway. But then out of nowhere, a hissing registers, my muscles react only not fast enough as the fireball skids across my calf. I scream out in pain and without thinking, rip off the burning trouser leg with my bare hands. Now I am definitely certain that I am holding the camera across Panem. I try my hardest to stay calm as I look at the angry red blisters on my hands, I don't dare look at my leg. So I look at my surroundings, the first thing I notice is the Stream, I should go and put my hands under the water because I remember my mother saying something like the first treatment for burns is cold water or something along those lines. I don't want people to see me as weak because Pity does not get you aid. Admiration at your refusal to give in does.
I really don't like the fact that I'm in the open and wounded like this but I can't stand leaving the pool for more than a few seconds. Oh it doesn't matter, If the careers want me, let them find me. And find me, they do. It's lucky I'm ready to move because I only have a couple of minutes head start as I can tell my enemies are not as speedy as they were before, I can tell by there hoarse voices and coughs. I manage to climb a tree which is incredibly painful because it requires direct contact of my hands on the tree bark, before they are even at the bottom of my tree. We all look at each other for a minute, they're evil faces smiling at the sure kill above them. But when they try to reach me, they find out they can't climb the tree and they're not very good with the bow and arrows either. As I settle in for the night in my tree with the careers below me, I catch sight of some eyes staring at me, those eyes are familiar, Rue. For a while we hold each others gaze. Then, without even rustling a leaf, her little hand slides into the open and points to something above my head. I look where she is pointing and at first I don't know what it is then I understand it's a wasp's nest. But this is the Hunger Games and ordinary isn't the norm.
They're probably tracker-jackers. They seem more likely to be in this hellhole than normal wasps. I realise what Rue wants me to do. When the sun goes down and the anthem starts to play, I get up and start to cut off the branch that is connected to the Tracker-jackers nest which sends the whole thing down right onto the careers who are sleeping below. It's chaos below as the careers have woken to a full-scale tracker-jacker attack, only a couple have managed to identify me. I manage to get the bows and arrows from glimmers bloated body before I fall unconscious from the Tracker-jacker venom.
When I wake up, I wait for the next onslaught of imagery but I accept that the poison has finally worked it's way out of my system. I slowly get up, I can tell that I've been unconscious for at least a whole day, maybe two from the stiffness in my limbs. As I stretch, I become aware of the green leaves on my arm and neck, I slowly peel them off until I hear a rustling in the trees. I aim my bow at the source of the noise and that's when I see the child's boot sticking out the side of the tree. I grin and the words have already left my mouth before I can stop myself, "You know there not the only ones who can make alliances." At first, no response and then Rue peeks out from behind the tree. "You want me as a ally?" Rue questions me, hesitantly. "Sure. Are you hungry? Now that I have got a bow and arrows I can go hunting to get us some food." I can tell Rue is contemplating my words so I give her time to think about it. "I'm going to go Hunting, If you want to become allies you could look for some berries and meet me back here in let's say 15 minutes?" I ask and Rue nods before walking away to go and look for berries. I manage to shoot a bird that I'm not familiar with and a rabbit.
I meet up with Rue and we both enjoy a cooked meal and Rue tells me the unfamiliar bird is something called a Groosling in her District. "Oh, I've never had a whole leg to myself before." Rue tells me which shocks me, with Rue being from District 11, Agriculture, I would think she had more to eat than us. "Really? I thought you would have more to eat than us as you actually grow the crops." I say and Rue looks at me, "Oh no, Your not allowed to eat the crops. They'll whip you if you get caught." I can tell from Rue's face that whipping is a common occurrence. I decide to change the subject. "How long was I asleep?" I ask Rue. "Couple of days, I changed your leaves twice. The boy from 10 and the girl from 1 are both dead." Rue replies. I nod.
"So where are Cato and the others?" I question Rue. "They got all their supplies down by the lake, piled up in this great big pyramid. Just out in the open. I bet they wouldn't last long without it." Rue tells me. I think about her wording, They wouldn't last long without it. "Say the supplies were gone. How long would they last?" I say. "I mean, it's the Hunger Games, right?" And for the first time, I have a plan. A plan that isn't motivated by the need for flight and evasion. An offensive plan. I spend the next couple of minutes telling Rue my plan about blowing up the supplies and she agrees it is a good plan. As I am saying goodbye to Rue, she unexpectantly throws her arms around me for a hug. "Be careful out there" She tells me and I promise I will.
Along the way to the lake, I can't help but think about Rue. About Rue dying. About Rue not dying and us being the last two alive. I brush these thoughts away and carry on walking. When I reach the Lake I can see what Rue meant about the pyramid, It's a questionable distance away from the Careers camp. Something's not right about that whole set up. I see Rue's first campfire in the distance and the Careers arm themselves before making there way to the source of the smoke. I figure out that the ground is mined after I see Foxface doing a little hop to and from the pile of supplies. So I shoot an arrow at one of the sack of supplies, releasing the items which fall to the ground and set off all the booby traps. The explosion knocks me down onto the ground, hard. I look at the blown up supplies in satisfaction, Let the Seventy-fourth Hunger Games begin, Cato. Let them begin for real. After blowing up the Career Tributes' stockpile, I go looking for Rue and I find her in a trap, as I help her to get free one of the boy tributes throws a spear which hits Rue in the chest, I quickly kill the boy tribute with an arrow and try to comfort the dying Rue in my arms. "It's okay. You're okay. You're okay. You're okay." I mutter more for my sake than Rue's. "You have to win." Rue whispers to me. I look at the dead boy from District 1 before turning my attention back to Rue. "Can you sing?" Rue asks me, but I hardly catch the word. Sing? Sing what? And then a song comes to me, It's the song I sang to Prim the day of the reaping. A simple lullaby that we sing fretful, hungry babies to sleep with in District 12. The words are easy and soothing, promising tomorrow will be more hopeful than this awful piece of time we call today.
Deep in the meadow, under the willow
A bed of grass, a soft green pillow
Lay down your head, and close your sleepy eyes
And when again they open, the sun will rise.
Here it's safe, here it's warm
Here the daisies guard you from every harm
Here your dreams are sweet and tomorrow brings them true
Here is the place where I love you.
Deep in the meadow, hidden far away
A cloak of leaves, a moonbeam ray
Forget your woes and let your troubles lay
And when again it's morning, they'll wash away.
Here it's safe, here it's warm
Here the daisies guard you from every harm
Here your dreams are sweet and tomorrow brings them true
Here is the place where I love you.
Everything's still and quiet. Then, almost eerily, the Mockingjay's take up my song. I can't bring myself to leave her like this. Past harm, but seeming utterly defenceless. I want to do something, right here, right now, to shame them, to make them accountable, to show the Capitol that whatever they do or force us to do there is a part of every tribute they can't own. That Rue was more than a piece in their Games. And so am I. After Rue dies I cover her body with flowers and give a special salute to District 11, which is Rue's district before walking away feeling empty. As I am walking, I receive a silver parachute which I open and find a loaf of bread from District 11. This is definitely a first, a District gift to someone who isn't your own. "My thanks to the people of District 11." Something happened when I watched Rue die, I told Rue I'd win for the both of us. And somehow that seems even more important than the vow I gave Prim, now I'm determined to avenge her, to make her loss unforgettable and I can only do that by winning and thereby making myself unforgettable. I climb dangerously high into a tree, not for safety but to get as far away from today as I can and fall asleep.